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Election loss could cost these NDP MPs a chunk of their severance

The House of Commons administrator has been asked to dock money said to be owed in an expenses dispute that is before the courts and that some contend is partisan.

Dan Harris, incumbent NDP MP in Scarborough Southwest, is one of the MPs that Commons administrators were under instructions to begin collecting money from. The NDP launched a court challenge in the dispute a year ago. (Carlos Osorio / Toronto Star) | Order this photo

Jean Rousseau

Isabelle Morin

Alexandre Boulerice (Adrian Wyld / THE CANADIAN PRESS Images)

By Joan BrydenThe Canadian Press

Fri., Oct. 16, 2015

OTTAWA—If some New Democrat incumbents go down to defeat Monday, they stand to lose more than their seats.

They could also lose some or all of the generous severance payments to which defeated MPs are normally entitled.

That’s because more than five dozen New Democrats have been ordered to repay the House of Commons a total of $2.75 million for improperly using their parliamentary office budgets to pay the salaries of staff in satellite party offices in Montreal, Quebec City and Toronto.

On average, the incumbents owe about $30,000 each but four of them are on the hook for more than $100,000.

The New Democrats have so far refused to pay, claiming they’ve done nothing wrong and are the victims of a partisan smear by Conservative and Liberal members of the board of internal economy, the secretive, multi-party body that polices Commons spending.

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Disputes over how parties spend public money have worked both ways in Parliament. Last April, the Canadian Taxpayers Federal took aim at the governing Conservatives over $13.5 million spent on advertising that Ottawa said was to promote public awareness of government programs. The Federation said the ads were torqued for partisan gain and a waste of public money; another group, Democracy Watch, called on the federal auditor general to investigate.

In the matter of the NDP MPs expenses, as of July 1, Commons administrators were under instructions to begin collecting the money by refusing to reimburse the expense claims of the 68 MPs involved in the satellite office matter.

The amount recovered thus far would be trivial, since Parliament was not sitting in July and no expenses could be claimed in any event after the election was called on Aug. 2.

Alexandre Boulerice (Adrian Wyld)

However, if any of those MPs are defeated on Monday, they could find their final pay-outs from the Commons — severance and reimbursement of pension contributions — docked for the full amount of what they still owe.

And those who’ve been MPs for fewer than six years also receive lump sum reimbursement of their pension contributions, which would amount to roughly another half year’s salary.

Four NDP incumbents could wind up losing most or all their final payments, should they be defeated.

The party leader’s office also owes $408,573 (racked up under both current leader Tom Mulcair and former interim leader Nycole Turmel) and the party House leader’s office owes $189,714.

The NDP launched a court challenge a year ago after the board ordered reimbursement of the $2.7 million, as well as another $1.2 million for improper use of parliamentary mailing privileges. Most of the latter was supposedly owed to Canada Post, which has made no known move to collect.

Jean Rousseau

The court case has languished ever since, with no attempt by the NDP or the board of internal economy to move it along. There was a brief attempt to negotiate a settlement which went nowhere.

The board will be reconstituted after the election and the new membership could decide to let the matter drop. However, both the Liberals and Conservatives have argued it’s a matter of principle to ensure that taxpayer-funded resources are used to help MPs carry out their parliamentary duties, not to advance their political parties.

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